After five long years in the background, Georgia QB Stetson Bennett IV demands your attention. Are you buying the hype?
Entering this past weekend, the former walk-on quarterback was dealing as a 100/1 long shot at most books to win the Heisman Trophy entering his final year at Georgia. By Monday, those odds had been slashed to 18/1 at BetMGM — fourth-shortest in the entire field — after his team’s rousing 49-3 win over No. 11 Oregon to kick off its title defense.
Bennett was virtually flawless for the third-ranked Bulldogs, finishing 25 of 31 (80.6 percent), a career-high 368 yards, and two passing touchdowns with another score on the ground. He showed patience and mobility in Todd Monken’s offense and was simply no match for the Ducks’ defense and first-year coach Dan Lanning, who spent years watching Bennett at Georgia but was powerless to stop him on Saturday.
Bennett has made a habit of defying expectations across his winding six-year collegiate career. He walked onto the team in 2017 before spending a year in junior college and another two years as the backup quarterback at Georgia. He wrestled the job away from highly touted transfer JT Daniels in 2021 and showed flashes of brilliance, ranking fourth in the nation in passer rating (176.7) and leading the Bulldogs to their first national title in 41 years.
Yet every highlight was met with detractors. He threw for a then-career best 340 yards and three touchdowns against Alabama in the SEC title game, but his two interceptions were insurmountable in that blowout loss. He was prolific in two playoff games, throwing for 537 yards and five touchdowns, but Georgia’s stellar defense stole headlines, even as Bennett earned Offensive MVP honors in the championship game.
Good luck overlooking him now. Bennett’s Heisman odds were on the move immediately after his career day, shortening to 25/1 by Sunday before being bet down to 28/1 by Monday afternoon. And there’s no telling how long that price will last with Bennett’s Heisman campaign gaining steam.
Sure, Bennett isn’t a prototypical candidate for this award. The 24-year-old passer is barely 6-feet tall with so-so arm strength, which is why he entered this year as such a sizable long shot. That clearly hasn’t bothered him to this point: he ranked third in yards per attempt (10.0) a year ago and rifled it all over the yard on Saturday.
He’s also got history on his side. Since 2000, 14 of 22 Heisman winners were quarterbacks for teams that finished in the top five, which feels like a foregone conclusion for the Bulldogs after Saturday’s performance. Georgia plays just one ranked opponent (No. 20 Kentucky) between now and the SEC title game — and as we saw last year, even with a loss, it would likely keep the Bulldogs in the top five.
We’ve seen a similar story play out before. Joe Burrow was dealing as high as 200/1 ahead of his final year at LSU, following three years on the bench and a mediocre junior season as the Tigers’ starter. He was still listed around 20/1 after two stellar weeks to start his senior season before running away with the award amid the Tigers’ championship run.
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It’s easy to see a similar trajectory for Bennett, who already has a championship under his belt and seems to have the full confidence of this coaching staff at the helm of one of college football’s most loaded offenses.
So, is he worth the hype? Bennett isn’t the most talented passer in the field, but he just might be one of the most prolific by season’s end for one of the nation’s best teams. That has Heisman Trophy written all over it. If you like Bennett, these are likely the best odds you’ll get for the rest of the season.